Saturday’s local elections were a setback for the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), but it does not necessarily mean that the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) would be victorious in the 2024 presidential election.
In the 2018 local elections, the KMT also claimed victory, but the DPP triumphed in 2020.
The KMT has two major problems. First, it is like a tree with a weak trunk and strong branches.
The KMT mayoral and county commissioner candidates have won due to their personal qualities, rather than the party’s support.
If KMT Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫), former Kaohsiung mayor Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜) or Broadcasting Corp of China chairman Jaw Shaw-kong (趙少康) try to reap the benefits of KMT individuals’ success, the “strong branches” could push back.
If New Taipei City Mayor Hou You-yi (侯友宜) or Taichung Mayor Lu Shiow-yen (盧秀燕) run for president, the Han Kuo-yu farce would likely be repeated.
Second, the KMT is facing a major threat from the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP).
Although the TPP cannot stand on its own, its influence has been growing due to Hon Hai Precision Industry Co founder Terry Gou’s (郭台銘) support.
The TPP and Gou would affect the KMT’s plan, and Gou is unlikely to work with the KMT again, after how he was treated in the KMT’s most recent internal elections.
Despite its terrible showing in the local elections, the DPP is still the governing party. It is therefore imperative that the it initiates reforms and prepares for the presidential election.
Chen Wen-ching is an executive director of the Formosa Association of Resource Recycling.
Translated by Liu Yi-hung
Chinese actor Alan Yu (于朦朧) died after allegedly falling from a building in Beijing on Sept. 11. The actor’s mysterious death was tightly censored on Chinese social media, with discussions and doubts about the incident quickly erased. Even Hong Kong artist Daniel Chan’s (陳曉東) post questioning the truth about the case was automatically deleted, sparking concern among overseas Chinese-speaking communities about the dark culture and severe censorship in China’s entertainment industry. Yu had been under house arrest for days, and forced to drink with the rich and powerful before he died, reports said. He lost his life in this vicious
In South Korea, the medical cosmetic industry is fiercely competitive and prices are low, attracting beauty enthusiasts from Taiwan. However, basic medical risks are often overlooked. While sharing a meal with friends recently, I heard one mention that his daughter would be going to South Korea for a cosmetic skincare procedure. I felt a twinge of unease at the time, but seeing as it was just a casual conversation among friends, I simply reminded him to prioritize safety. I never thought that, not long after, I would actually encounter a patient in my clinic with a similar situation. She had
A recent trio of opinion articles in this newspaper reflects the growing anxiety surrounding Washington’s reported request for Taiwan to shift up to 50 percent of its semiconductor production abroad — a process likely to take 10 years, even under the most serious and coordinated effort. Simon H. Tang (湯先鈍) issued a sharp warning (“US trade threatens silicon shield,” Oct. 4, page 8), calling the move a threat to Taiwan’s “silicon shield,” which he argues deters aggression by making Taiwan indispensable. On the same day, Hsiao Hsi-huei (蕭錫惠) (“Responding to US semiconductor policy shift,” Oct. 4, page 8) focused on
George Santayana wrote: “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” This article will help readers avoid repeating mistakes by examining four examples from the civil war between the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) forces and the Republic of China (ROC) forces that involved two city sieges and two island invasions. The city sieges compared are Changchun (May to October 1948) and Beiping (November 1948 to January 1949, renamed Beijing after its capture), and attempts to invade Kinmen (October 1949) and Hainan (April 1950). Comparing and contrasting these examples, we can learn how Taiwan may prevent a war with
RSS